price match

For a lot of people, Target is their go to place. It’s one of those stores that you visit when you’re looking to do most of your shopping in one place. They basically have it all including food, clothing, furniture, and most household amenities. However, even though many of the items there are fairly inexpensive, when you finally bring your cart up to the cash register, your final bill can still end up being quite high. Fortunately, there are a number of good ways to save money whenever you shop at Target. Below is a list of some of the tricks and tips that you might want to try the next time you are shopping there to reduce your overall bill.

Shop the End Caps

First, always check the end caps. Those are the shelves at the end of the aisle. Sometimes they contain clearance items that the store is trying to get rid of, or sometimes they contain the weekly sale items. The best sales or deals will usually be found on the end caps.

Manufacturer’s Coupon

Coupons will always help you save money and Target accepts manufacturer’s coupons for both regular priced and sale items. So if you already scour your Sunday papers looking for coupons, you’ll be happy to know that Target accepts them.

Store Coupons

Did you know that Target has a section of their website donated to in-store coupons? If you didn’t, make sure to check out coupons.target.com to see what great deals you can score, or visit Coupon Sherpa to get a discount code for Target. The best thing about Target’s store coupons is that they work on sale items and you can use them with a manufacturer’s coupon. Just image how much money you could save on one item that’s on sale if you have both a store and manufacturer coupon!

Refunds on Sale Items

Have you ever purchased an item only for it to go on sale a day later? It’s frustrating, right? Luckily, if you have the receipt for the item, Target will refund you the difference for the week that it’s on sale. Of course, this won’t work for an item you bought a month prior to the sale, but if you bought it anywhere from a few days to a week before, you should be golden.

Price Match

Unlike some stores, Target does offer a price match guarantee. This means that if you have WalMart’s weekly ad and they’re offering an item for a few dollars cheaper, Target will grant you that price. It’s definitely worth it to keep your eye on the sales ads because this is a great and easy way to save a few dollars.

Compare In Store and Online Prices

Have you ever noticed that some businesses charge more for online items than they do for their store equivalent? For instance, a particular piece of clothing might be marked as $9.99 in the store, but as $11.99 online. Unfair, isn’t it? It’s best to watch these prices so you know when you should buy something in person or online. Additionally, watch out for the store and online prices, too. Sometimes online items will have a higher percentage off because it’s assumed that more people will see the sale online. In these cases, the retailer is trying its best to get rid of the item.

Markdown Schedule

If you’re a savvy shopper, then you probably already know when new items go on sale and how quickly they’re marked down. Target has a regular markdown schedule, which is something you should become familiar with if you’re a frequent shopper. For instance, the markdown schedule lists when 50%, 75%, or 90% off after holiday sales begin. You wouldn’t want to miss a 90% off sale, would you?

Target REDcard

Target has their own credit or debit card called a REDcard. Signing up for this card means that you’ll save 5% off every visit and that you’re guaranteed free shipping for every online order. While 5% might not seem like a lot of money, it adds up. This is an especially great perk if you often shop at Target. After all, if you have the opportunity, why wouldn’t you opt for 5% off?

Bring Your Own Bags

Similar to a lot of businesses that are trying to be environmentally friendly, Target offers 5 cents back on every reusable bag. Again, 5 cents might not seem like a lot in the long run, but you’re still saving some money. For instance, if you have 5 bags with you for all your purchases, that’s $0.25 you’ve saved. A little saved money goes a long way.

Daily Deals

Have you been eyeing a certain TV for months? Or maybe you’ve needed a new jacket for awhile. What about a new set of luggage for your upcoming vacation? Whatever you might be looking for, you should check out Target’s Daily Deals. They’ll post around 10 to 20 small items each day as well as one big ticket item. The sale price varies depending on the item, but it’s definitely something to keep tabs on. Their big ticket sales are even listed for the week so you can know what to expect.

It seems that many businesses and stores these days are willing to fight hard for your patronage. I’ve noticed a lot more stores lately that now offer price matching on equal items from a different store. You simply show the ad or online printout showing the item that is less expensive at the rival store, and they will give you the item for that price (or sometimes even for cheaper). The fact is that in today’s day and age, your money is in demand and you can use this to your advantage and save yourself even more cash. Here are a few of the biggest benefits to taking advantage of the price matching strategy.

Convenience

Simply put, if you can get the best sale price on an item at a store that is closer to your home or work instead of having to drive far, it’s going to be more convenient for you. Recently I was looking to buy a label maker in an effort to better organize my house. I found one online at OfficeMax that was on sale for only $20, but when I went to look up my nearest OfficeMax store, I found out that the nearest one was in a different state! I knew that there were 2 Office Depot stores between my work and my house so I went to their website to see if they offered price matching, which they did! I was able to go to the store closest to my house without wasting extra gas and get the same price I would have if I would have driven a lot farther.

Convenience is also a factor if you are already going to a certain store to buy something else. If that store will price match the item you want to buy, you can save yourself the gas and effort of going to a different store, finding another parking spot, standing in line again and making another transaction. While these extra steps may not take a huge amount of time, they can be very beneficial if you are in a hurry or are short on time.

Even more convenient is being able to purchase the item online if you don’t need it right away. We were able to purchase an area rug for our house at a significant discount (with free shipping) due to price matching. Usually all you have to do is provide them with the link to the lower price on a different site.

Better Price

What’s even better than stores that match prices, are those that beat them. For instance, Home Depot and Lowe’s both offer to beat competitor’s prices by 10%. This is a wonderful combination because since both stores carry similar items, you can almost always save 10% on an item by going to whichever store the item costs more at and getting 10% off of the lower price at the other store. Since this does take a little research and effort (i.e. finding the sale price in an ad or printing it off the website) it may not be practical for smaller items, but it can definitely pay off on bigger purchases. When we got ready to build our backyard patio, we found the pavers we wanted on sale at Lowes. However, we had a coupon to use at Home Depot, so we took the Lowe’s ad to Home Depot and they beat the sale price by 10%. The gentleman who ordered the pavers for us at Home Depot even said that we were buying them for less than what they had paid for them as the store!

Extra Incentives

Another nice thing about price matching an item at a different store is that often times you are eligible for extra incentives at the 2nd store that you wouldn’t be eligible for at the original store. For instance, when I bought my label maker at Office Depot for the same price OfficeMax had advertised, I was also eligible for an additional $10 rebate on the product which took my price down to only $9.99! The rebate was offered on the Office Depot item to offset the original higher price, but I received it WITH the lower price, which saved me 75% of the original cost.

Other stores may not offer a rebate on the item you wish to buy, but they may offer a better return policy, better customer service, or even a less crowded store. Sometimes a store with lower prices can mean a more crowded store with lower quality customer service, but if you can get the same item for the same low price at a store that treats you well, why not? Stores also differ on their return policies, with some stores letting you return or exchange for longer periods of time than others. Also, some stores like Rite Aid will let you return/exchange cosmetics if they don’t turn out to be the color you expected (not sure if they offer price matching or not though).

After the Fact

So you’ve already bought the item you want and after the fact find out that it was on sale somewhere else for cheaper and you could have gotten the price matched. You may not be out of luck in this case. Many stores will offer price matching AFTER the fact. If you bring in proof of a lower price elsewhere within a certain period of time, they will refund you the difference. And many stores will match their OWN prices by giving you a refund if the same product you purchase goes on sale within a certain length of time.

Shopping frugally does include looking for the best price, but it often also involves being creative and thinking outside the box. Price matching is a practice that many stores offer but don’t necessarily advertise unless you ask. It may be a good idea to keep a list of stores that you frequent in your city that do offer price matches so you can reference that in the future. It just takes a quick phone call to ask if they offer it, or a quick question to the sales clerk the next time you are at the store. It will be worth it because the savings will add up over time.